The Lost Child
by VerbotenesErgebnis
Summary: Katya Karkaroff, a talented witch from a wealthy family in Russia begins her first year at Hogwarts. There she learns a taste of how her family name is respected - or feared - in the UK Wizarding World. The discomfort she feels at Hogwarts greatens over time, as she feels something important is being hidden from her about herself, perhaps even the secret of who her father is.
1. Chapter 1

Katya boarded the train to receive the same odd stares she received ever since she left Russia into England. Large eyes of various colours staring at her as if they never saw a person dressed as she before. She passed through the corridor, peeking into compartments to see groups and groups of British students, all seemingly dressed in the same type of autumn sweaters and jeans, a few here and there also sporting black robes. Their stares made Katya feel very uneasy, she felt as if she were an alien, perhaps even invading their space with her maroon beret and black long coat. Or maybe they were instead staring less at her and more at her Louis Vuitton luggage. She wondered if muggle haute-couture fashion brands were popular in the English Wizarding World. Her uncle Maxim made the implication to her that outside of their world in Russia that muggle fashion wasn't particular known. Katya tightened the grip on the handle of her luggage.

About two-thirds the way down the train she peered into a compartment to her right. Inside sat three boys, two chubby brunettes eating popcorn on one bench and a very blond, composed boy on the other bench.

The blond boy turned his head to look at her. His straight, almost smug lips turned into a short moment of an enamoured, slightly opened mouth before the boy quickly regained his composure. 'Are you looking for a place to sit down?' he asked.

'Yes,' Katya said, casually turning her attention to the two boys on the other bench, unsure if she wanted to become trapped in a small space with them.

'Then,' the blond boy moved closer to the window to make more room on the bench. 'Sit down.' He smiled nervously.

Katya took a breath. 'Uhm, well …' She saw from the corner of her eyes the conductor nearing up the corridor. She sighed. 'Yes, I suppose.'

She began to bring her luggage into the compartment. For a moment, she glanced toward the blond boy to see that he was not about to raise himself from his seat to help her. Her lips twisted. She wondered if this boy was really that rude not to offer his assistance, or if it was simply a cultural difference between England and Russia. Once she got her luggage inside and placed it to the side of the bench, Katya sat down herself.

'What's your name?' the boy immediately asked.

'Katya.'

The boy paused. 'Sorry?'

She sighed. 'Katya. Katerina. But I go by Katya.'

The boy smiled, perhaps trying not to snicker. 'And where did you receive a name like that?'

Katya eyed him oddly. 'Obviously from my parents.' She rolled her eyes. 'You haven't told me your name, by the way.'

The boy smiled proudly and sat up straigher. 'I'm Draco Malfoy.' He saw Katya smile and added with a smirk, 'And your surname? Are you from a good family?'

'Karkaroff.'

The chubby boys on the other bench began to chuckle. For a moment Katya thought that the shorter, plumper one was about to throw a couple pieces of popcorn at her.

Draco snapped his head to face them and harshly glared at them with his grey eyes. 'Be quiet! She comes from a better family than either of you do! Just as I am, she's your superior!'

The boys silenced themselves. Katya looked at Draco and snickered. A very light pink colour came upon Draco's cheeks as he turned his face to face her, his facial expression that of a little boy who was becoming more and more embarassed.

Draco cleared his throat. 'That's Crabbe and Goyle. Ignore them. They're not very bright, in fact I don't even think they can read.' He heard Katya snicker and added in a snippy tone, 'Well why is that so funny to you? I'm serious.'

Katya casually shook her head. 'I don't want to be here, really. So I have to laugh.'

Draco twisted his lips into a sort of pouty sneer and turned his head to look toward the window. 'You went to the Durmstrang Preparatory School, didn't you,' he said flatly. 'Then, of course, you think you know more than all of us, don't you?'

'Well of course, it's Durmstrang. And because I'm lucky enough to be a Karkaroff, I can learn family tricks of the best family.'

Draco scoffed. 'Of the best family. Your frame of reference is clearly Russian.' He paused before muttering, 'Family tricks...'

'The Malfoys have their own, don't they? Didn't your parents teach you something before you came here, to give you tools to rise higher than the masses of what is here?'

Draco quickly turned his head to look at her, a small glare in his eyes and his lips once again twisted into a pouty sneer. 'Of course they did,' he replied quickly, almost spitting out the words as he spun his short little fib.

Katya sat back in her seat, reading the testy Malfoy boy quite well. 'Okay, then.'

Crabbe and Goyle began to laugh, pieces of chewed popcorn slipping from their mouths. Katya raised an eyebrow and watched as Draco's cheeks turned a light red.

'Go find yourselves some other fodder to much on!'

Katya held back laughter. She watched as Draco glared angrily at Crabbe and Goyle, eyeing their every move as they got up from their seats and stumbled out the door. Once she heard the noise of the compartment door shutting, Katya released her laughter.

'Why do you keep laughing at me!' Draco snapped. 'Is it my name? Is it how I look? Is it just because I'm not Russian!'

'Huh?' Katya asked, genuinely surprised at what he said. 'I'm laughing because you said that they – those two fat boys – much on fodder.' She smirked. 'It was funny. I was laughing at them, and at what you said, but not at you.'

Draco eyed her, his gaze no longer that of a glare. 'There have been people who laughed at my name before.'

'Why?'

'Because in our generation, most people are named with a more standard name – well like yours, like Katherine – rather than with a name from Greek or Latin.' He sat up straighter and stuck his nose slightly into the air. 'My father said that they all sank to blending in with the lower class, like with the Mudbloods. We, however, the Malfoys, continued and will continue the tradition of higher class names for higher class people.'

'You sound proud of your name, so why care if other people in our generation are ignorant and laugh?'

Draco looked at her oddly, his eyes softer. 'Because – because I don't like being laughed at. I'm a Malfoy. I should be respected, not treated as a joke.'

Katya shrugged. 'I'm sure people will laugh at my name too, just because it's different here, despite being normal in Russia.' She looked at Draco. 'But it just shows how stupid they are, don't you think?' She watched Draco nod. 'You know, I met a few people with names similar to yours.'

Draco perked up a little. 'You did?' he asked with a smile.

'At Drumstrang Preparatory I met a Croatian boy named Drago, and a Slovenian boy with that name who was two years my senior. One of my friends was from Romania, and his name was Dragos.' She shrugged. 'So not Draco, but close.'

'Do their names also mean dragon?' he asked.

'No, Drago and Dragos mean …' she thought a moment. 'How do I translate this?' She paused briefly. 'Precious, dear, of a lot of value. Expensive, so to say.'

Draco smiled. 'Or they came from my name, from the dragon in the stars.'

Katya smirked. 'Sure, you can believe that.' She playfully winked at him. Following the wink, she noticed Draco blush and held back a giggle. 'Moment, I have an idea.' Katya reached over to her luggage and opened the front zipper pocket.

'What is it?' Draco asked.

She pulled out an unopened bag of black liquorice. 'This,' she replied with a big smile.

Draco's eyes lit up. 'I like the dark ones too!' He began to reach for the bag.

Katya swiftly pulled the bag away from Draco's reach. 'Just a couple because these are from Germany and I don't know when I'll taste them again.'

Draco pouted a little but agreed. He watched as Katya opened the bag. He held out his hand for her to drop two wheels of black liquorice into his palm. He held one of them in front of his eyes. 'Do I just eat it, or should I unroll it?'

'I usually unroll them and eat them like a string,' Katya answered as she took two pieces for herself out. She then sealed the bag and slid it back into her luggage pocket. 'Like this.' She pinched the end of the liquorice string and slowly began to unpeel the wheel. 'But slowly so it doesn't break. You have to do this.' She moved her fingers to hold the part of the string at the site where it would separate from the wheel and pulled a little more if it apart. 'To support it.'

Draco and smiled and began to copy what Katya did. As he untwisted the wheel he began to lightly laugh. When he finished and had a rope of liquorice in his hands, he looked to see that Katya had waited for him to be ready to eat.

'What now?' he asked.

'We eat.' She smirked. 'Na zdrowie!' She took a bite from her string.

Draco laughed, blushing. 'What did you say?'

'It's how we say Cheers in Russian – literally meaning to health. But try it, the liquorice I mean. Tell me if you like it.'

Draco took a bite and chewed with a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was analysing every flavour he could detect in the candy. He swallowed and nodded. 'It's quite good, but not very sweet.'

Katya shrugged. 'I don't know, it's sweet enough to me.'

'Hm,' Draco took another bite and ate it. 'Have you tried the Liquorice Wand?'

Katya shook her head. 'No, I never ate any English sweets.'

Draco smiled. 'I don't have any with me right now, but surely the Hogwarts Express Trolley will have some.' He paused to eat another bite of his liquorice. 'I'll buy you one.'

'Okay,' she said with a pleasant smile.

With a loud bang, the door to the compartment swung open and in walked Crabbe and Goyle, laughing with each other in chuckles suited for ogres, pieces of crisps and candies fallen onto their clothes. Katya scrunched up her nose in disgust. She looked toward Draco to see that he also held an unpleasant expression regarding Crabbe and Goyle's return.

Katya leaned closer to Draco and whispered to him, 'Really do they ever stop eating? And cleanse themselves a little?'

Draco held in laughter which resulted in a quiet snort. He leaned over to Katya and whispered back, 'This isn't my responsibility. I just have to watch them.'

Katya smirked and nodded. At least Crabbe and Goyle were guffawing enough with each other, that they would not notice the liquorice wheels being finished by Katya and Draco. But, she did have to consider keeping a close watch on that front pocket of her luggage, just in case.

In the next chapter, they will arrive at Hogwarts and Katya and Draco will meet Harry and Ron! Following with the Sorting Hat, which is not happy to meet another Karkaroff


	2. Chapter 2

At first there was an announcement: In fifteen minutes the train will arrive at Hogwarts. Ten minutes later came a second announcement: A reminder to all students to leave all luggage in your train compartments! Everything will be delivered to your dormitory rooms!

The second announcement made Katya cringe. She didn't necessarily trust anyone handling her things even though she knew only authorised personnel would be doing the job. Still she was concerned of thievery. Katya reminded herself that her uncle Igor taught her a spell to put on the luggage, so that only one with her fingerprints could open the zipper. She did the spell under his supervision before she boarded the train, so she knew that it was in effect and working. However, that wasn't enough to ease her thoughts.

'Are you anxious?' Draco asked.

Katya noticed Crabbe and Goyle staring at her from the other side of the compartment. 'No, of course not. I'm a Karkaroff – we're never anxious.'

Draco placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Good,' he said, certainly sounding sure of himself. 'I'm sure we'll both be sorted into the Slytherin House. I think we'll have a long-lasting friendship here at Hogwarts, don't you?'

Katya nodded. She did enjoy talking with Draco during the train ride. It was Crabbe and Goyle she did not like. Although she was grateful that since returning from grabbing themselves more snacks following the arrival of the Trolley, they hadn't said a word to anyone, not even to each other.

The train soon came to a halt. Katya looked once more at her luggage before Draco extended his hand to her. She peered toward where Crabbe and Goyle were sitting to see that they were gone, most likely to find and hoard whatever snacks they could find to stuff into their pockets before exiting the train. Katya breathed a sigh of relief and took Draco's hand.

'I know what you're thinking and I agree,' he said. 'But they do follow orders at least.' He took a deep breath. 'My father works with their fathers so they were sort of assigned to me.' He pulled Katya up from her seat.

She let go of his hand. 'Sorry, I just don't want others to make comments.' She shrugged.

Draco blushed a little. 'Yes, you're right.' He walked out of the compartment. On his way out, he glanced back at his own luggage. 'I do hope that Hagrid isn't fetching them all.'

'What's a Hagrid?'

Draco burst into laughter. 'You are funny, you know. I unfortunately have the horrible feeling that we'll meet that Hagrid soon.' He rolled his eyes. 'The Headmaster of this school is a moron and hires unqualified individuals. That's what my father says.'

Katya snickered. 'Well of course by my standards the Headmaster here is below satisfactory.' She cockily flipped some of her dark brown hair from her shoulder. 'My uncle is the best Headmaster there is, no one can compare to him. Unfortunately he can't change the regulations of the Durmstrang Academy to allow girls to study there. After the Preparatory School we have no options but Hogwarts or Beauxbatons.' She followed Draco off the train. 'Naturally I didn't want to wear a uniform to make me look like a pixie.'

Draco laughed. 'I too wouldn't want to go to Beauxbatons. I think if I was born a girl, my mother would have urged me to go there. Though I think Durmstrang is too military-like, that's not for me either. But I heard their Quidditch team is very good.'

'Oh, so you play?' Katya asked.

Before Draco could answer, a gruff-sounding voice began to call all first year students to come over to him. The sound of the voice made Draco crinkle up his nose and stick it in the air. He scoffed, 'And he even interrupts me before I speak.' He looked at Katya. 'Do you see that hairy oaf of a thing over there?' He pointed in the direction that the voice was coming from, to show Katya a very tall, broad, stocky man with long curly brown hair and a thick beard that reached his mid-chest. He was carrying a lantern that was obviously enchanted to put out more light than a normal lantern of its size would have the capability to do. 'That is the Hagrid.'

'Huh,' Katya said dryly. 'I suppose this Hagrid bathes, yeah?'

'Of course he does!' came a boy's voice from behind them.

Draco and Katya turned around to see two boys, a brunette with round glasses and a sort of sloppy-looking redhead. It was the boy with the glasses who looked a bit angry, glaring at Katya with intense eyes. The redhead, however, appeared to be a bit nervous.

'Pfft, and what do you know,' Draco said with a sneer.

'Hagrid is my friend and you shouldn't say such things about him!' the boy with the glasses said, his glare now fixated on Draco.

Draco laughed. 'Your friend? My, how low you've sunken. Unless you're of the Weasley family, but I would say that your dusty little companion beside you is the Weasley.' He saw the redhead boy sneer at him, appearing to want to say something but holding back his words. 'Do you see, Katya? A redhead with worn-out clothes like him, that is a signature trait of a Weasley. Our families are better than his, we don't talk to him.' He paused to see the two boys seething, the brunette in the glasses about to open his mouth to spit out a comment. 'Don't you agree Katya?'

Katya shrugged. 'Yeah, I don't like the looks of these two.'

'Don't like the looks of us?' the boy with the glasses said, obviously insulted and finding Katya and Draco to be two very distasteful people.

'You don't even know us!' the redhead piped up.

Katya smirked. 'I have no need to. You don't look like my old friends from Durmstrang Prep, that's for sure.'

'Durmstrang Prep!' the redhead exclaimed with wide eyes, either very impressed or a bit frightened at what she said.

Before anyone could continue the confrontation, the man named Hagrid cleared his throat. 'Order! Attention! First years, we'll be travelling by boat across the lake to the castle! Two students per boat! No more, no less!You'll be having lanterns in your boats, so keep 'em with you! Professor McGonagall will meet you on the land and bring you to where you'll be sorted! Let's go!'

Katya and Draco chuckled at Hagrid's slurred, quite poor pronunciation, especially when saying a word that included 'you'. They followed the group of their classmates. As they walked, Katya nudged Draco with her elbow. 'Boat partners?' she asked with a playful wink.

Draco smiled a proud smile. 'Of course.'

During the boat ride across the lake, Draco simply kept talking. Sentence after sentence, idea after idea. It seemed that he didn't particularly care if he received a response, he just wanted to be talking. Katya lost him after he ranted on about his mother having different French desserts in the house, and how he hoped that Hogwarts would have something similar to satisfy him. She personally didn't care so much what he was saying, since she was at the front of the boat holding the lantern. Her mind kept thinking about how the lantern was in an 18th century design and wondering how old it was. For her it was a bit of a novelty to see something that old, since her part of the Wizarding World in Russia had common everyday technology that also existed in the Muggle World.

She also found the terrain of Hogwarts to be quite incredible, though she would never admit it out loud to anyone. The castle awaiting them on the other side of the lake was glowing with bright yellow light spilling out from every window. It was a picture of a medieval castle that Katya had only seen in old paintings or storybooks. It was definitely a different image to behold than what she experienced at Durmstrang. The castle at Hogwarts appeared to be even bigger than what contained both the Durmstrang Academy and Preparatory School, though as she peered at what she could see of the grounds in the dark, they seemed to be noticeably smaller than what was at Durmstrang.

All of a sudden, while Katya was in mid-thought and Draco in mid-talk, a bump into the rear of their boat sent them thrown forward in their seats. Katya lost her grip on the lantern and heard a splash as it fell into the water.

'What was that!' Draco yelled, sounding both angry and scared.

'Moment,' Katya said. She held her hands out in front of her, connecting her fingers together to form a shape of an orb with her hands. 'Zagoretsya!' A white light formed in the space she made with her hands.

Draco stared in awe, his jaw dropped. His gray eyes were wide open, astonished, even enamoured at what he just witnessed. His very fair skin paled a slight tone lighter and a couple tufts of blond hair fell onto his face from the perfectly combed and slicked-back hairstyle he sported.

'Look at this! Look what she did!'

The familiar gasping and whining voice from behind made both Katya feel a bit nauseous. She turned around and shone the light to see who it was. In a boat very close behind them sat the redhead and the boy with the glasses from earlier.

'Did you hit our boat?' Draco snapped at them.

'We lost control and it just happened,' the boy with the glasses replied.

'These boats are steered themselves. They're enchanted. All boats move at one set speed, in perfect formation with each other.' Katya said flatly. She then narrowed her eyes. 'Seems I'm not the only one who can do magic without a wand. One of you sped your boat up and I think I know who it was.' She glared toward the boy with the glasses. 'Naturally you because your little pal there is so clueless and scatterbrained, I doubt he can even levitate a feather.'

'And I'll tell my father what you did,' Draco added with a sneer, mostly directed to the boy with the glasses, but also shooting a biting glare to the redhead.

'You shouldn't be using magic before we're taught!' the redhead exclaimed, the expression of his face one of a fearful child who was currently incapable of speaking from reason.

Katya twisted her lips. 'I can play with boats too.' She placed the orb of light from between her hands onto the front of the boat, then turned back to the two other boys. 'Just try to bump us again.'

With a smirk, Katya touched the side of her boat and it began to move faster. She sat calmly at the front of the boat behind the orb of light, using hand motions to steer in order to prevent her and Draco from crashing into other students. At first, Draco panicked, even began to scream. However once he realised that Katya had full control over the boat, he began to laugh joyfully, even exclaiming a 'Whoo!' into the air a few times. His reaction gave Katya an uplifting feeling in her stomach. Draco did appear to her as quite a serious boy, she was glad to provide him some kind of unexpected amusement.

They quickly sped to the front of the group of boats. Laughing wildly, Katya sped past the boat which was leading all of the others. Knowing that in this boat most likely sat Hagrid, who was placed on such high esteem by the boy with the glasses, Katya deliberately steered the boat so it darted diagonally in front of Hagrid's boat in a cutting manner. The sharp turn of the boat resulted in a large splash of water pushed up from the lake to douse Hagrid.

'That was brilliant, Karkaroff!' Draco exclaimed in uncontrollable laughter.

She smirked. 'I'll make our landing even more fun!' She smiled a big, toothy smile. 'Hang on, Malfoy!'

She slanted her hands so that her palms were towards her body and her fingers pointing upwards into the air. The boat began to react like a car screeching to a stop. Once they almost reached the shore, Katya thrust her hands upward, causing the boat to jump about two metres into the air. Draco screamed and threw his arms around Katya's waist. In a matter of a couple seconds later, the boat landed onto the grassy shore, lightly, without even making a plump.

Katya felt Draco's head on her back, then heard him begin to laugh. He squeezed her waist and then let go.

'That was great!' he said with a big smile and flushed cheeks from the excitement of the ride.

Katya turned around and winked at him. 'Just one of my tricks.'

'Excuse me,' a stern older woman's voice scolded from in front of the boat.

Draco and Katya turned their heads in the direction of the voice, a sinking feeling of lead in both of their stomachs. Standing in front of the boat was a thin, medium-height woman of about 70 years of age, dressed in a long black dress that extended to the ground and wearing a pointed black hat with a wide brim that encircled her head. She stood with crossed arms and piercing eyes. From what Katya could sense, this woman wasn't very powerful magically, but with average power and nothing to feel threatened by. However the sternness in the woman's eyes, voice and demeanour definitely made Katya uneasy. She wondered what would happen to them. She didn't know if corporal punishment was permitted at Hogwarts. She knew that at Durmstrang corporal punishment could only be allowed with the consent of the student's parent or guardian.

'What are your names?' the woman asked, somehow with the capability to add intonation in her phrase without sacrificing any sternness.

'Katerina Karkaroff,' Katya answered, her eyes hard and strong, staring at the woman. She felt no fear, despite the questions in her mind regarding the punishment policy at Hogwarts. She knew that she held a Portkey as the pendant of a necklace she was wearing and could transport herself directly to her uncle Igor, who would never admit anyone to inflict corporal punishment onto his niece.

The woman appeared to roll her eyes, obviously not fond of the family name. 'Karkaroff,' she said flatly before she turned her attention to Draco. 'And you? Your name.'

Draco's lips formed into a nervous, defensive sneer. 'Draco Malfoy.'

The woman paused and took a breath. 'So there we have it,' she continued. 'A Karkaroff and a Malfoy – the second and third students to ever receive detention before officially beginning their studies at Hogwarts.' She paused. 'Such an even only occurred here once before, with a certain student named Sirius Black.'

Draco's eyes widened. Katya didn't understand his reaction, as the name was completely unfamiliar to her.

'In case one of you are not aware.' The woman turned to Katya. 'Sirius Black is in Azkaban Prison on murder charges. If I were either of you, I'd take this piece of information as a sign to control your further behaviours at Hogwarts and not follow the path of Sirius Black.'


	3. Chapter 3

There was silence. The stern woman waited a moment, then looked up to see a soaked Hagrid arrive on shore, followed by the other students. She then turned her gaze back to Draco and Katya. 'I can't prove that one – or both – of you caused our Groundskeeper to become soaking wet, so out of my own morality I will not have extra points deducted from whichever House or Houses you are sorted into. You both will, however, report immediately to your Head of House after dinner. My assumption is that the both of you will be in Slytherin House, so Professor Snape will be the one to administer your punishments.'

Katya stared at the woman, holding back a smirk because she had heard about Professor Snape from members of her family. She could feel from Draco beside her that the thought of Professor Snape made him a bit nervous and she wondered what he might have been told about the man, but she didn't say a word to him on the matter.

Within the next fifteen minutes the entire group of First-Years reached the shore. The stern woman introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House. She told the students to remain silent and to follow her into the castle. As they all began to walk, Katya felt Draco's arm brushing against hers. She glanced at him and saw that he still appeared to be nervous, perhaps even a bit disappointed in himself. Katya began to feel guilty that she acted as she did with the boat and hoped that Draco wasn't angry with her.

They were brought into the castle, which had a grand and decorative interior. It was very clean, chandeliers on the ceiling and large paintings on the walls, most likely with frames made out of gold. Katya was not particularly impressed, as the interior of her family's mansion on the Wizard Side of St. Petersburg was like a palace where Kings would live if Russia still held a monarchy. However, she was relieved that at least the standard of living in the Hogwarts Castle seemed to be either on par or close enough to on par as it would have been if she was at home. She was surprised to see that Draco was a bit in awe with the interior of the castle. From how he spoke in the train, Katya assumed that he came from the same level of wealth as she did.

They were stopped by McGonagall in front of a pair of large dark wooden doors. 'Here is the Dining Hall, where you will be sorted into your Houses – the Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.' She shot a brief glare in the direction of Draco and Katya as she said the name Slytherin. 'I ask you to quietly wait out here while I tell Professor Dumbledore that you are ready.' She then disappeared through the large doors, closing them securely behind her.

Despite being told to be quiet, the group of eleven year olds immediately began to chatter. Katya and Draco stood silently, listening in on the various scattered conversations. They both soon realised that a crowd had formed around the brunette boy with the glasses, on whose forehead was a lightning bolt shaped scar, which was now visible in the illuminated castle. The boy looked both surprised and pleased as he faced introductions from various students.

'Harry Potter!'

'You're Harry Potter!'

'I can't believe I'm meeting you!'

'We'll be classmates!'

'You're famous!'

Katya raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what was going on. She turned to Draco to see that he had a sour expression on his face. 'Hey, Draco. Do you know about this at all?'

'Pfft,' Draco spat out. 'Famous. The story is that Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby but failed. Killed his parents though.' He spoke coldly, having absolutely no remorse for the circumstances of this Harry Potter.

'Voldemort …' Katya said. 'Yeah, I heard that name before …'

Draco turned to her. 'Well I'm sure you have.' He put an arm around her shoulder and whispered to her, 'He was against allowing Muggle-Borns into our society, and was the magical rival of that Dumbledore. But also quite dangerous. Very dangerous.' A bit of fear began to seep into Draco's voice. 'So, I suppose it's good he's not around anymore … but no thanks to that Harry Potter.' He glared toward the direction of the boy. 'Hm,' A twisted smirk formed on his face. 'Let's go over there and introduce ourselves.'

'Why,' Katya said flatly. She rolled her eyes. 'Please, I feel we'll have to listen to this the entire year.'

Draco shrugged. 'Just to see if anyone here isn't so dimwitted and actually finds us – Malfoy and Karkaroff – more important and impressive than some scar-faced Harry Potter.'

Katya said okay and went with him. They moved themselves through the crowd surrounding Harry Potter, Draco snippily saying 'Out of my way' as he pushed past the other students. When Harry spotted them, his eyebrows narrowed a bit. Beside him was the redhead from earlier, much to the expectation of Katya and Draco.

'What do you want?' Harry asked.

'Simply to introduce ourselves to our celebrity classmate,' Draco replied with a smirk. He extended his hand. 'My name is Draco Malfoy.'

Harry looked at Draco's pale, somewhat bony hand. His gaze shifted from the hand to Draco's face. 'Why should I be your friend when you insulted my friends Hagrid and Ron.'

Katya raised an eyebrow. She glanced at the redhead boy who must be the one named Ron. 'The Weasley.'

Draco snickered.

'His surname is Weasley and I don't understand why that's a problem for you,' Harry said. 'I find nothing wrong with his name, nothing wrong with his family. I don't judge people as the both of you do, whatever your reason for it.'

Draco's eyes hardened into a glare. 'You don't even know what you're talking about. The sort you choose to join yourself with will never help you in your future.'

Harry looked toward Katya, expecting her to add in a snide comment, but she remained silent. 'But as you said,' he spoke, directing his words to Draco. 'I chose my friends. It's my choice.'

A moment of silence passed. Draco and Harry both just stared at each other, the redhead named Ron Weasley looking nervously at Katya. He then caught her gaze and swallowed some saliva. 'You didn't tell us your name,' he said, stuttering a little a few times.

Katya smoothly took off her maroon beret, revealing her head of dark brown hair, which perfectly fell around her face as if she had not been wearing a hat. She flipped some hair to behind her shoulders and stood straighter. She noticed that the eyes of most of the male students were focused on her, some of them almost in awe of her Slavic beauty. Katya smirked and casually looked at Draco, whose eyes were shining as he watched her, the light pink blush now having returned to his cheeks.

She twisted a tuft of hair in between her fingers and looked at Ron. 'Katya Karkaroff.'

Ron's eyes widened. 'Ka-Karkaroff?'

Katya smirked. 'That's what I said.'

The students began to whisper among themselves. Katya tried to listen to what they were saying, expecting them to be passing words of respect among each other. However she couldn't quite catch the English words because the whispers were so quiet and intermixed with each other. She tapped Draco on the shoulder, who was still standing straight and admiring her. 'Hey, what's the big deal with my name?' she asked. 'When people in Russia learn my name, well they seem ready to serve me. This doesn't seem to be the same.'

'It seems our sort isn't kindly accepted here,' he answered, his tone and facial expression returning to his normal cool and sort of snobby mannerisms. He spat out a 'pfft' and added, 'Wait until my father hears about this. Maybe then he'll talk to the useless Administration at this school and we'll get the respect we deserve.' He stood straighter

Katya rolled her eyes. 'I don't know. Maybe it's not worth the effort, Draco. The people here are just stupid. Look.' She pointed to the crowd that once again formed around Harry Potter.

For a moment Draco said nothing. His lips twisted into a sneering pout before he said, 'Well they should be taught a few things.'

I think they're just too Potter-brained to be taught anything, Katya thought.

The two large wooden doors opened. Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway and told the students to enter the Dining Hall in a single-file manner. She told them again to be silent and to have patience while everyone is sorted. In this brief time, the awe-filled chatters of Harry Potter ceased and Katya finally felt some semblance of calmness.

Through the large doors was a dining hall even bigger than one Katya ever saw. In her house there was a ballroom of this size but not a dining area. The ceiling was extremely high, almost like in a Basilica. On the opposite side of the Dining Hall from the entry doors was a group of elevated platforms. Most of the platforms had a large wooden table and an adult sitting behind it. The lowest platform was located in the centre, and on that was just an old, uncomfortable looking chair with what appeared to be some black fabric on top of the cushion. Above this platform was the highest platform of them all, behind which an old white-haired man with glasses and a long, pointy beard of curly white hair sat. He appeared to wear very decorative robes, almost like a king, with gold-coloured threads stitched into the fabric. The adults who surrounded him on each side, sitting lower in height than he was, were all dressed quite plainly, in identical black robes without any colour added to their outfits.

Katya decided not to peer in the direction of the man, as she assumed this man to be Albus Dumbledore, a man whose presence itself began to make her feel uncomfortable, and a man who was not spoken about fondly by her family. She instead observed the four wooden tables, each extended as long as the length of the Dining Hall. They all stood parallel to the centre walkway that she and the other First-Years were currently walking down, one after another. She noticed that all of the students at each table were dressed in identical black robes and trousers, the only differences being whether or not their robe had a Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw patch and the colours of the neckties depending on the House. Katya felt out of place in her jeans and black coat, especially while holding her maroon beret in her hand, despite that not every new student had already dressed themselves in the Hogwarts uniform robes.

Professor McGonagall stepped up onto the low platform where the chair stood. She picked up the lump of black fabric to reveal to the students a pointed black hat that appeared to be so old that the material it was made out of was horribly wrinkled and no longer maintaining a good, solid form.

Katya scrunched up her face a little. 'That thing is not going on our heads, please tell me that thing is not going on our heads …' she muttered to herself.

McGonagall began to speak. 'One by one I will call your name. You will come up here and sit on the chair and I will place the Sorting Hat onto your head. The Sorting Hat will make a decision and you will sit with your new Housemates. I will name which table belongs to each house from the direction of my right to my left: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin.'

Draco, who was standing in front of Katya, turned around briefly and smiled when he heard Slytherin be mentioned. Katya smiled back awkwardly, completely disgusted at the fact of what seemed to be a ratty old hat placed on the heads of other students and then onto her own. She was concerned if anyone had lice – or even maybe fleas – that could possibly be transmitted to her.

The sorting began. The names, Katya realised, were being read in alphabetical order. She became quickly utterly bored standing there waiting, seeing student after student sit on that chair with that hat on their head yelling out the name of whichever House the student was to go to. To make it worse, the Hat had a bitter and angry sounding voice which made it even more disgusting to Katya. She was tired, too, of watching Professor McGonagall standing to the side of the chair, applying or removing the Hat, or reading out names of students from a long rolled-up scroll that seemed to be made out of old yellowing paper.

'Karkaroff, Katerina,' McGonagall read out her name, almost with a sigh that would come from one receiving a poor taste in one's mouth.

As Katya moved her way to the platform, she heard various whispers among the students: 'Where is she from?', 'What kind of name is that?', 'I heard about her family, they're Dark Wizards.', 'Hogwards shouldn't allow in someone from a family like that.'

The comments turned her stomach. She stepped onto the platform and sat on the chair. In front of her stood or sat the entire student body, most or all of them judging her. She caught in her vision some snickering students, both from the group of First-Years and from the upperclassmen sitting at the tables. Katya couldn't understand why they stared at her as if she was an alien. She didn't know if their confused and awkward gawking faces were caused by her name, her face or by her clothing.

The Sorting Hat was placed on her head. It began to cough a dry cough. Katya could see some dust spew into the air in front of her. The majority of the students began to laugh. Katya began to feel nervous.

'How many Karkaroffs will I have to sit on this time?' the Hat growled.

Katya didn't answer.

'Well?' the Hat began to bellow a little. 'Answer me girl.'

'I have no brother or sister,' she replied coldly.

'Cousins?' the Hat sneered.

'Much younger.'

The Hat began to laugh. 'At least now I know, I'll only have to taste one salty Karkaroff head!' The Hat's tone became more biting and snide. 'Tell your cousins to learn at Durmstrang or Beauxbatons. Your salty hair has a horrible taste.'

Snickers arose from the students.

'Why don't you sort me rather than bully me!'

The entire Dining Hall fell silent.

The Sorting Hat was also silent for a moment, before it once again erupted in laughter. 'Oh-ho!What do I see here? Such royalty, such a prestige!' It laughed again. 'Oh, what a proud Pure-Blood witch you are, even though your name shouldn't be Karkaroff!'

A glare shot from Katya's eyes as if she could shoot daggers from them in battle. 'You still wish to bully me? How pathetic.' She then realised she was speaking out loud and in her thoughts began to continue her communication with the Sorting Hat: You don't know what I can do to you, do you? You filthy old hat, you have no purpose in life than to harass other students. Mostly students like me, who aren't British? I'm sure that must be part of your reasoning. You make me sick. I curse you in your entire existence. I won't stand to be treated like dirt, especially by a hat. Sort me – now!

Katya expected laughs and screams to arise from the Sorting Hat, but instead she heard sobbing. She smirked, feeling a surge of pride that she caused this reaction from the Hat.

'I'll do whatever you say! Whatever you say! Which House? Which House do you request?'

'Slytherin,' she said coldly. 'I am a salty-headed Karkaroff, don't you remember? A serpent should be fitting to me.'

The students had begun to laugh ever since the Hat started to sob and weep. The laughter momentarily grew a bit louder after Katya's comment, specifically from the direction of the Slytherin table. Katya glanced toward the remainder of the unsorted First-Years and saw Draco give her a thumbs-up. His boyish facial expression made her smile.

'Slytherin! Slytherin! Just remove me from this wretched girl!' the Hat wailed.

The laughter from the students continued until a loud, shaking 'SILENCE!' emerged from the highest podium. The Dining Hall immediately fell silent. The voice which yelled, the voice of Albus Dumbledore, deadened the atmosphere in the room with its power. The chilling silence to follow Dumbledore's command sent a shiver under Katya's skin. She wondered if the other students also felt that something wasn't right about the Headmaster.

Before she knew it, the Sorting Hat was plucked off of her head by Professor McGonagall. Katya could hear the Hat taking quick, deep, panicked breaths, at last returned to the safe hands of the Head of Gryffindor House. Katya turned her head to see that the stern woman was once again eyeing her angrily, as well as analytically, trying to find out how Katya could manage to torment the Hat. She glared back at McGonagall and rose from the chair, keeping her eyes fixated on the Professor until she approached the steps from the platform and went to join her Slytherin classmates.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco licked his lips. 'Wasn't that delicious?' he said with a big smile.

'A bit British though.'

Draco laughed. 'We're in Britain.'

'I already miss the Beluga Caviar,' Katya groaned. 'And you people don't eat buckwheat here? It's healthy!' She sighed. 'I think tonight my uncle Maxim made blini for dessert too … with the gooseberry and rum preserves too …'

'Huh?' Draco asked curiously. 'What is that?'

Katya sighed nostalgically. 'They're sort of crepes.' She saw Draco's eyes light up. 'We make them from rice or buckwheat flour and we put inside them –'

'You are Miss Karkaroff and Mr. Malfoy,' a dark, flat voice interrupted from behind them.

A soft, breathy gasp came from Draco. Katya twisted her lips a bit, annoyed that the description of the blini that she was enjoying so much was broken off by this man. Yet she knew that this voice was one of an adult – a professor, most likely – and she would need to show respect. She began to turn around in her seat. As she did, she noticed Draco start to do the same.

Behind them was a medium-height man dressed entirely in black. He had a moppy head of straight, stringy black hair that extended to his jawline, but not quite to his pointed chin. His skin was pale, his eyes narrow and dark, his nose of a shape almost like a beak. His lips were twisted into something similar to a scowl as he looked at Katya and Draco, his precious time bothered by them and his patience diminishing with every passing second.

'Yes, we are Karkaroff and Malfoy,' Katya said.

Draco meekly nodded.

The dark man stared. 'Well I can surely know who is who.' He looked at Katya. 'You look exactly as I'd imagine Igor to be if he was a girl and you have that very slight, odd accent that all Karkaroffs I meet have.' He looked at Draco. 'Platinum-blond hair, sneering little mouth that you use to hide that you are shivering inside. Malfoy.' He paused. 'The two of you will come with me because apparently I'm to receive some burden handing out detentions before the term begins thanks to someone's –' He looked at Katya. 'clever idea to display their boating skills to their classmates.'

Katya was silent for a moment. 'Then we come with you, sir?'

The man stared intently into her eyes without a flinch within his muscles. 'Yes, Miss Karkaroff. I am Professor Severus Snape, the Head of Slytherin House.'

He swiftly spun on his heels and began to walk away. Draco's face held a tinge of dread before they jumped out of their seats to follow. Professor Snape did not once look back to check if they were actually following him. He walked at a quick pace from corridor to corridor, causing Draco to groan a bit at what he found to be unnecessary exercise after a long day. Katya was unaffected by Snape's quick strides, because if she was still at home she would be practicing Quidditch with Igor possibly until ten in the evening. She reached behind her and grabbed Draco's hand, pulling him to follow.

After twisting from corridor to corridor a few more times, they were brought to an office next to a large picture of what appeared to be a grey forest near a river. Snape had opened the door to the office immediately upon their arrival, so neither Katya nor Draco could take a long enough glance at the picture to completely comprehend what was in it. They followed Snape into the office to hear the door slam behind them at once. For a moment they stood in complete darkness until a few candles flashed to being lit. Snape stood with his arms crossed and his dark eyebrows narrowed.

'You two have been dropped in my hands at a very inconvenient time for the both of you,' he spoke coldly without a blink of an eye. 'I'm missing the annual mead drink that the professors share at the start of every term and I am very sour about it.'

I can tell, Katya thought as she fought against rolling her eyes.

'I should have the both of you cleaning my potions lab for two weeks, according to Professor Dumbledore, but under these aggravating circumstances, I'm extending your length of detention to one month.'

'What?' Draco exclaimed. 'You can't do that!'

Snape shot a biting glare in Draco's direction, which immediately silenced him. 'You, Mr. Malfoy, will learn to keep your mouth shut and to show respect for me as the Head of Slytherin House. Let me add to you that considering that this detention will be handed out before the start of school term that I have no obligation to record it on yours or on Miss Karkaroffs record. Do you understand me, Mr. Malfoy?' He paused and glanced briefly at Katya, but returned the main focus of his attention to Draco. 'You should consider yourself lucky, Mr. Malfoy, that you had a mischief-making comrade such as Miss Karkaroff who decided to show off before the official start of the autumn term. You should also consider yourself lucky, Mr. Malfoy, that I have no desire to speak to your father when he comes lurking about the school, so I'd say we have no reason for him to know about your troublemaking, don't you agree, Mr. Malfoy ...'

Draco nodded with almost fearful eyes.

Snape turned to Katya. 'And Miss Karkaroff. Of course, how should we forget Miss Karkaroff ...' He smirked for a second and then returned his lips to their usual straight position. 'I can surely assume that the Headmaster of Durmstrang, that Igor, whatever relation he is to you, will also find it expedient for himself to, as I would say, lurk about the school. He hardly does any work at Durmstrang. Instead he has his assistants manage everything like any King would, am I right?'

Katya stared at him. 'I don't know, sir. I don't work for him.'

Snape smirked again briefly. 'Whatever you say, moya tsarina.' He held back a chuckle after seeing Katya's eyes widen.

'Govorite po ruski?'

Draco looked at Katya, fully confused and begging her with his eyes not to make any conflict with Professor Snape.

Snape paused and studied Katya for a moment, not at all noticing the facial expression that Draco was giving her. 'Four weeks you clean my potions lab.'

Draco and Katya nodded silently, Katya still eyeing Snape oddly as she nodded.

'Well, go!'

Draco walked immediately to the door and put his hand on the door handle.

Katya remained still. 'When do we report ourselves to you, sir?'

Snape looked at her as if he was contemplating whether she had the intention of talking back to him or truly felt that her question needed to be asked. 'I haven't decided yet,' he answered flatly with a bit of a growl in his voice. 'You have potions class in two days. I'll know by then.'

Katya still didn't move. Draco stared at her as if she was asking to be given a more severe punishment. He took a couple steps over to her and grabbed her arm.

'Do we return to the Dining Hall, sir?'

'Miss Karkaroff, how am I supposed to answer that question ...'

'I'm trying to avoid making another mistake,' she said. 'Dinner was over when you got us and I think if we had stayed at the table, we would be taken to our dormitories. The First-Years at the Gryffindor table were already being collected together when you arrived, sir. I don't know if Draco and I might have missed some important information.'

Snape looked hardly at her. 'Miss Karkaroff, are you implying that I had the intention to, how should I say, set you up so that you would be lacking important information?' He spoke every word as if he spat it.

Draco stood shaking his head. 'No, sir, she didn't.'

'I wasn't addressing you, Mr. Malfoy.' Snape paused. 'Mr. Malfoy, leave my office. If your boating champion wishes to stay and ask questions from me, why don't you let her.'

'Professor Snape, you said earlier that Karkaroff is my comrade. She is, and she's my Housemate too. I shouldn't leave her here – leave her here and find my way while she'd have to find her way alone.' He tugged Katya's arm.

Snape stared at them. 'Your Common Room and dormitories are located in the Dungeon Corridor. Surely the talents of such noble pure-blood families such as yours can aid you to find it.' He saw Draco smile. 'The password is argentum viridi serpens, which you are obviously not to reveal to anyone. Another piece of information, so I'm not accused again of –' He turned to Katya. 'Omitting important information –' He turned back to addressing them both. 'is that the password changes regularly. There will be a notice in the Slytherin Common Room, perhaps you two should check these notices together until you accustom yourselves to the routine.'

'Sir, I'm very sorry, but what was that password again?' Katya asked.

'Argentum viridi serpens,' Draco replied with pride in his voice.

Snape nodded. 'Yes, Mr. Malfoy. Remember that password because I will not repeat it to you again and if you forget it, you and Miss Karkaroff will sleep in the corridor tonight.' When neither Draco nor Katya made a comment, Snape added, 'Leave!'

Draco pulled Katya's arm and they left, quietly shutting the door behind them.

Once he was certain they were gone, Snape sat down in a black leather chair behind his desk. He opened a drawer to his desk to take out a large book, in which information about the current students of Slytherin were recorded. Immediately after the sorting of a student would their personal data be magically added to this book, and their name immediately removed once they would graduate from Hogwarts. Snape flipped to where the K section was and found and found Katya's information.

'Katerina Karkaroff, born in Sevastopol on the eleventh of November 1979. Father unknown. Mother Ludmila Karkaroff.' Snape paused. 'So … she's Ludmila's child. I was convinced Igor was her father. So then, the father is who?' He shook his head. 'Some person from Drumstrang Igor set her up with, I'm sure.' He read the information further. 'Of course, Igor and Maxim Karkaroff became the legal guardians of the child.' He looked once more at the birthdate. 'Eleventh of November 1979 in Sevastopol …' Snape repeated, his mind now deep in thought. 'When did I hear this date before? There was something about this date.' He paused again and flopped the cover to he book shut. 'I hope for the child's sake that Dumbledore won't decide to investigate more into this. But knowing Dumbledore … I should keep an eye on this Karkaroff girl.'


	5. Chapter 5

Katya and Draco did, without too many obstacles, get themselves used to their new lives at Hogwarts. On the second day of classes, they received their detention notices from Snape, on which was written that they would clean the potions lab on Mondays and Thursdays between 19:00 and 21:00 for one month. The punishment did serve as useful, however, when Draco told Crabbe and Goyle about it after being confronted about missing dessert one evening. Crabbe and Goyle, who immediately feared Professor Snape, now wanted to avoid being seen with Draco in order to not place themselves in his line of fire and possibly also get in trouble. A little extra bribery of Draco's promise to give the two bumbling chubby boys his dessert for the entire year was enough to receive their pledges to lie to their fathers and say that they did spend time with Draco at school, if they were ever asked about it. Draco oddly looked forward to the detentions because he found the names on the little bottles of potions and potion ingredients to be interesting, as well as that he got to spend time more or less alone and undisturbed with Katya.

Katya found the detentions to be boring yet amusing. Boring because she had neither an interest in potions nor was she excited about having to clean everything by hand instead of by using magical techniques for a quicker and more efficient cleaning. They were however amusing because she found Draco to be quite a funny person with a dry by quirky sense of humour – something that he didn't reveal with other people besides Katya. She also laughed a lot during the cleaning, simply because she never had a detention before. This was one of the topics she and Draco repetitively talked about, as well as that Katya and her family would use magic to clean their enormous mansion themselves, rather than have House Elves, which were considered to be filthy thieves in Russia.

Above all they were lucky and thankful that Snape just popped in here and there to make sure they were cleaning and not slacking off or tampering with anything. It was due to this that they could hold their conversations. Perhaps Snape didn't even care if they were talking and laughing as long as they were following directions.

After their third detention, Katya and Draco casually made their ways back to the Slytherin Common Room. They decided to check the area by the door where various postings for Slytherin students were, in case any notice of a new entry password was put up. Instead they saw a piece of paper informing about Quidditch tryouts for the House Team. It said on the paper that there were specific needs for a Chaser and a Beater.

'The tryouts are on Friday, we don't have detention!' Katya said with a big smile. 'What do you think, Draco?'

'First-Years never make the House Team, Katya,' he said flatly, a bit disappointed. 'If I won't get on, I don't want to try out and seem as a fool.'

Katya shrugged. 'I think I'll try. I've been playing Quidditch since I was five years old.'

'That young?'

'One of my uncles played professionally for a few years on the Russian team, so he was really interested in training me. He coached the Quidditch team at Durmstrang before he got the job as Headmaster.'

Draco's jaw dropped.

'Well, it really isn't that surprising. Anyone who went to Durmstrang Prep learnt how to fly at age six, but most of us already knew how.'

Draco shrugged, then a cocky smile formed on his face. 'I know how to fly too. I can show you tomorrow.'

'Tomorrow?'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'You don't read our schedules, do you?' He chuckled. 'We have this class tomorrow where we learn to fly. Turns out there are many people here who haven't a clue how to command a broom. Mudbloods.' He spat out the final word.

'Mudbloods are what we just call Muggles in Russia, right?' she asked. 'Witches and wizards who have muggle parents?'

Draco nodded. 'And it's disgusting to allow them into our society.'

'I agree, that's why we just call them Muggles or Exceptional Muggles in Russia,' Katya said. 'Haffus are acceptable if they grew up in our world, not with the muggles and if the muggle parent adopted the identity of a Squib.'

Draco laughed. 'Hang on, you call Half-Bloods Haffus?'

She nodded.

'They're such a burden, don't you think? I personally would want our world to be only for Pure-Bloods, preferably Pure-Bloods of high pedigree such as ourselves. But –' He sighed. 'We live in these times where those of our kind make such pathetic mistakes of having a child with a muggle. I would never taint my bloodline in that way.'

'I wouldn't either, it's a waste, I think.' She shrugged. 'But if they choose to live in our society and the muggle respects our society and says he or she is a Squib, then they – the Haffu I mean – should be accommodated and after a few generations in our world, that muggle half will be pretty much gone. People make mistakes, that's what my mum tells me. We shouldn't only judge the mistake, but how the mistake is handled. That's how we know if they're deserving to still live in our society with us.' She put a hand on Draco's shoulder and said almost teasingly, 'And aren't some so-called Pure-Blood families of our world undeserving of the title? Like that Weasle-ey ginger boy who can't even levitate a feather?'

Draco began to laugh wildly. 'That was the perfect demonstration of a Weasley! Meanwhile I could do it easily and you just used your finger and your feather went flying through the classroom!'

Katya smiled and pointed to herself proudly. 'That's because I'm a Karkaroff.' She pointed to Draco. 'And you're a Malfoy.' An exaggerated sour look formed on her face and she began to wave her hand as if she was pushing away a bad smell. 'And that ginger kid is a Weasley.'

They laughed with each other some more. They went and sat together on the black leather couch in the Common Room, joking and laughing about certain instances that happened during the previous week. Draco eventually checked his watch to see that the time was 22:15. He said that he was going to go to bed. He got up from the couch and extended a hand to Katya to help her up.

'Go on ahead, I'll take some notes on that Quidditch post,' she said. 'See you tomorrow.'

A soft smile formed on Draco's face. 'At least let me help you off of that couch you're sinking in. You have to get up to walk to where the postings are.' He blushed a little when Katya took his hand and got up from the couch. 'There. Now I feel very useful to you, since you can do magic without a wand.' When Katya laughed in the form of a combination of a chuckle and a giggle, Draco snickered almost shyly. 'Well then, see you tomorrow.' He let go of her hand. 'Sleep well.'

'Spokoynoy Nochi,' she said with a smile.

Draco giggled. 'What?'

'It means Goodnight.' Katya winked at him. 'I'll teach you some Russian.'

Draco smiled again and attempted to repeat 'Spokoynoy Nochi', his pronunciation very twisted in trying to say spokoynoy. It wasn't a bad first try at all, but his accent was very English, which made Katya smirk, finding it precious. Draco then walked off to the boys' dormitories and Katya walked back to the Quidditch posting.

'Friday at 16:00,' she read out loud. 'Meeting at the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch. You must bring your own broom, brooms will not be provided.' She nodded. 'No problem, I brought mine to school.'

'Hey, I know you,' a boy's voice from the side of her said. His voice was deeper than Draco's and was definitely an upperclassman.

Katya turned. Standing to her right was a taller brown-haired boy with thick eyebrows and a long face. He was wearing a green t-shirt and black lounge pants, carrying a white towel over his right shoulder. Katya felt a tad bit awkward being approached by this boy, dressed so casually, since she was still in her uniform.

'You're Karkaroff, aren't you?'

She smirked and let out an unexpected breathy laugh. 'Yeah, the one who made the Sorting Hat cry.'

The boy laughed. As he laughed, his larger front teeth became visible. 'That was smashing what you did. But we met a couple months ago at the Durmstrang Summer Programme. We played Quidditch together, in the match held at the end of the programme where the age groups are mixed.' He pointed Katya. 'You're a Chaser. A very aggressive Chaser.'

'Are you that guy who knocked me into the Keeper!'

The boy smirked. 'Well we won.'

Katya sneered at him, not angrily but with amusement.

'My point is,' He pointed to the information about the Quidditch tryouts. 'That you should try out because we need a Chaser like you.'

'I was planning to give it a try.'

The boy smiled and nodded. 'Good, good, glad to hear it.' He extended his hand to Katya. 'Marcus Flint.'

She shook his hand. 'Katya Karkaroff.'

'Great to meet you again,' Marcus said. 'I'll chat with you more later. You probably should get to your room before our Head Boy starts his lights-out patrol.'

Katya laughed. 'Then what are you doing, coming into the Common Room right before this patrol?'

Marcus snickered. 'Somehow, for some reason, they made me a Prefect of Slytherin, so I have a few more rights than you,' he replied with a sarcastic playfulness. When Katya laughed a little, he added, 'My parents have no bloody idea why I would have been chosen as a Prefect, but at least now I'll have the privilege of the Prefect Bathroom for my last three years at Hogwarts.'

'Oh, you are lucky, I heard those were luxurious.'

Marcus nodded. 'They are and I'm going there right now.' He gestured to his towel and winked at her, which made Katya snicker. 'See you Friday.'

Marcus went his way and Katya went her way. She walked up the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories and went into her room. The strange feeling of not coming back to her own room at home still sat on Katya's shoulders like lead. The only benefit she had was that her family was able to sign her into one of the few fee-based private room and bath accommodations upon her enrolment in Hogwarts. A place to herself was definitely necessary for her so that she could not only have personal privacy and comfort but to have a spot where she could be alone and relax without anyone to bother her. As she came inside, she locked her door behind her and hung up her robe. A screech of a greeting came from her pet bat, which lay hanging from the edge of a bookshelf.

'Privyet Mushka,' Katya said.

The bat named Mushka screeched again, also not happy with being away from Russia.

'I know, I miss Uncle Igor too.' She smirked. 'Your old Master.' Katya reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a small apple she had snatched from the Dining Hall. ' Here.'

Mushka flew down from its perch and began to nibble on the apple. Katya walked over to her desk and placed the apple on the desk. She then took a shower in her bathroom and came out dressed in sikly cream-coloured pyjamas. By the time she was out, the apple was finished and Mushka returned to its position hanging from the bookshelf. Katya began to brush her hair and Mushka screeched again.

Katya laughed. 'It's good that each of these rooms have a soundproofing spell on them. Otherwise you'd disturb everyone in the neighbouring rooms.' She smiled, very grateful to have received permission from Hogwarts to keep her bat with her as a pet. Technically, only a rat, a cat or a toad would be allowed, but under special circumstances her mother was able to argue that a bat was the historical pet of every first-born Karkaroff, and hence a tradition that couldn't be broken. Her mother Ludmila's argument was true, but most importantly was Mushka to be there as a piece of familiarity and security. 'So Mushka, will I be the new Slytherin Chaser?' Katya asked as she lay down her brush.

The bat made some quiet noises as it nodded its head.

'Na, are you only saying that because Master Igor would want me on the team?' she asked playfully as she walked to her bed and pulled back the covers.

Mushka fluttered its wings.

Katya laughed. 'I'm talented and should make the team.' She sat into her bed, still feeling odd in it as it was much smaller and not as soft as her bed at home in St. Petersburg. 'But we both know who wants me on the team the most, don't we.'

Mushka replied with some squeaking sounds that sort of resembled a laugh.

'It's so good to have someone here who understands me!' Katya sighed and flopped back into her bed. 'Spokoynoy nochi.' She pointed her finger at each of the lit candles in her room to stop their flames from burning and soon fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

'Up!'

'Up!'

'Up!'

The frustrated moans and commands continued. Katya stood almost petrified at what she was seeing. Could these Hogwarts students truly not know how to command a broomstick effectively? She could do it on one try, without any harshness in her voice, with a broomstick that was not hers and with using her fourth language. Next to her stood Draco, who also immediately ordered the broomstick into his hand with a stern 'Up'. He had a dull look on his face, bored but not surprised at what he saw.

'Remember when I told you how some wizarding families are better than others?' Draco whispered to Katya. 'Well just look at Weaselbee over there!' He gestured in the direction of Ron Weasley, who stood unsuccessfully whining his command to the broom.

'I. Can't. Believe. This.' Katya slapped her palm to her forehead. 'Why am I in this class?' At that time, the flying instructor Madame Hooch, a thin medium-height woman with short grey hair, passed by where Katya and Draco were standing to check on their progress. 'Excuse me,' Katya began.

'Do you have a question, Miss Karkaroff?'

'Yes, of course,' Katya replied. 'I'd like to know if it would be possible for me to have a pass out of this class.'

Madame Hooch raised an eyebrow.

'I can demonstrate to you right now what my skills are that apparently are way beyond the skills of a common First-Year Hogwarts Student,' she continued. 'I have been flying since I was three years old and playing Quidditch – children's Quidditch in Russia nevertheless, which is the most competitive children's Quidditch in the world – since I was five. My uncle is Igor Karkaroff, he played professional Quidditch and also coached the Durmstrang Team for some years before becoming Headmaster, he taught me everything I know, so –'

'Miss Karkaroff, I've heard enough of your speech,' Madame Hooch interrupted, her voice not quite stern but more neutral. 'There is a procedure we have at Hogwarts where the students go through their studies at Hogwarts together as a group. We don't allow for any students to skip ahead into other classes, of course, if one fails then they must repeat the failed course. I understand well the adaptation difficulties that the few students we receive from Durmstrang Preperatory normally have. Earlier today I taught this course to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Students and heard similar complaints from Olga Gruzinskaya and Svetlana Zhirova, who are former classmates of yours I would assume.'

Katya nodded, defeated and holding her anger inside of her that she would be forced to be so bored for however long it took for Hogwarts to catch up to the skills of the Durmstrang Prep graduates. She thought about continuing her argument, claiming that she would have more time to study for other classes if she could be excused from the flying course, but decided to shut her mouth, afraid that Madame Hooch would decide not to allow her to remain on the Sign-Up List for the Slytherin Quidditch Tryouts.

'So, we understand each other, Miss Karkaroff. You will remain in the class with everyone else, just as your former classmates Miss Gruzinskaya and Miss Zhirova will.'

Katya noticed that all of the students were watching. She hadn't thought that she had been speaking so loud, but perhaps she was when she gave her 'speech' to Madame Hooch. She nodded with narrowed eyebrows and watched as Madame Hooch turned to Draco.

'Is everything in order, Mr. Malfoy?'

'Yes.'

She moved to the next students. Draco turned to Katya with his sneering pout on his face. He started to whisper about how useless the school was and how useless the classes were because of the Dumbledore Administration. He continued on more, about how his father told him that Dumbledore was a Half-Blood and how for that he shouldn't be taken seriously.

Draco's own personal speech to Katya didn't last too long before he heard the voice of Ron Weasley say to Harry Potter, 'Did you hear what that nasty little Buggar said to Madame Hooch? She thinks she can tell the professors what to do!'

'They're talking about you,' Draco said. 'And with such low-class terminology.'

'I can't say I'm surprised to hear low-class terminology here,' Katya said with a roll of her eyes.

'Why do you think she has a bad attitude, Ron?' came Potter's voice.

'It's because she's a Karkaroff and they think they're some type of royalty,' answered another Gryffindor student, Seamus Finnigan, who spoke with a nasally Irish accent.

'Dark Wizards, Harry,' Ron said. 'And she's friends with that Turn-up Nose Malfoy.'

Katya snickered and turned to Draco. 'That's you.'

'They'll learn not to call us names,' Draco scoffed.

'What are you planning?'

Draco looked at her. 'Nothing yet. But I will. Even before this I felt nauseous at the sight of Weaslebee's face. They're such embarrassments. Spew a bad name for Pure-Bloods wherever they go.'

Katya nodded. She then caught the eye of a tall brown-haired boy who was standing silently between Millicent Bulstrode and a Gryffindor student. He wore the Gryffindor uniform and definitely looked even more miserable than Katya did. She nodded at him. She knew this boy to be Andreas Ionescu, a Romanian who had been best friends with her, Olga Gruzinskaya and Svetlana Zhirova at Durmstrang Prep. It just then occurred to Katya how she didn't see him at all this year, despite knowing that Andreas decided not to attend Durmstrang Academy. To his great misfortune he was sorted into Gryffindor House, instead of into Slytherin as he wished, or at least Ravenclaw, where Olga and Svetlana were sorted.

Andreas mouthed the words 'God save us' in Russian. Katya nodded again at him, this time her nod one of agreement and not one of a greeting. She felt very guilty that someone who was such a good friend of hers, also a fellow Quidditch player, was sorted into Gryffindor, the House of the 'I am holier than thou' attitude. She remembered exchanging a quick conversation with Olga and Svetlana during the weekend, where they both expressed their disappointment of not being sorted into Slytherin, but relived to not be in Gryffindor.

The time continued to pass by, Draco continued to whisper various things here and there to Katya, Katya and Andreas continued to exchange looks of misery. The only thing that appeared to have stopped, or at least lessened in volume, was the conversation between Ron, Harry and Seamus, in which they were speaking insults about Katya and Draco. Madame Hooch was still trying to assist a couple Gryffindor students, one of them being Neville Longbottom, and appeared to have been doing so with this particular group of students for a good ten minutes.

Katya began to anxiously tap her fingers against her broomstick. The boredom was killing her. On top of that was the day extremely beautiful, a shining sun and a brisk but not too cool air. It felt like it was still summer to her, as in St. Petersburg there would usually already be a winter feeling seeping into the air. Katya felt liberated at the thought of being able to wear lighter weight clothing while flying, instead of the skin-tight and thick-material training outfit she would have to wear this time of year in Russia. She wanted to fly. She wanted to fly fast and perform tricks in the air, despite having only what she considered to be a ratty peasant broomstick at her disposal.

'I can't bear this any longer,' Katya whispered to Draco, who was snickering about how Ron Weasley apparently hit himself in the face with his broomstick.

'Neither can I,' Draco answered. He then began to laugh, 'Look there! That fat little Neville Longbottom wants to fly too!'

'Huh?' She looked in the direction that Draco was pointing to see plump, short Neville Longbottom having mounted his broomstick and now stood floating in the air with a terrified expression on his face. Madame Hooch, who had begun to help one of the students standing next to Neville, immediately brought her attention back to him and stood below him, ordering for him to stop and come down. Neville cried that he didn't do anything and that he couldn't land, sounding completely sincere in his fearful voice. Once he spoke, his broom began to jerk itself aggressively back and forth. After a few times of that, Neville fell to the ground from his broomstick, causing a crowd of students, mostly those from Gryffindor, to form around him.

Madame Hooch tended to the boy, who appeared to be now suffering from a broken arm. She said she would take Neville to the Infirmary, and then return to finish the lesson. Immediately she added sternly for them all not to attempt flying on the brooms, to just stand and wait until she came back.

There was silence until Madame Hooch left with Neville. After every student was sure that she was completely gone, various chatter began. Katya and Andreas walked over to each other and began to converse in Russian, a feat that left Draco scowling with a scrunched-up nose and narrowed eyebrows. He sneered and followed Katya at a distance, feeling both rejected and insulted that she would choose to speak with a Gryffindor rather than to poke fun at Gryffindors with him. It didn't help when Draco realised that Katya and Andreas were speaking in Russian, a language which he didn't understand and therefore couldn't push himself into their conversation. For a moment he stood behind Katya, waiting to be acknowledged, figuring that the least she could do was switch to English in order to introduce her Housemate. He soon realised that he was not about to be addressed by the two Russian speakers and shifted his gaze to where Neville had fallen. He saw on the ground a tennis ball-sized smoky red ball, which he approached and picked up.

'Ach so!' Draco said in a cocky manner, loud enough for Katya to hear. 'What had he here then? Well, it's mine now. I'll make better use of it than that fat little idiot could!'

The Slytherin students laughed, excluding Katya who was still speaking Russian with Andreas and frankly hadn't heard anything that Draco said.

Draco saw that his comments were of no interest to her. 'Karkaroff!' He waited a moment before noticing that her attention had been finally snagged from Andreas Ionescu. He smiled a cocky smile and narrowed his eyes mischievously. 'I'll show you how we Malfoys can manipulate a broomstick! You're a bit bored there, aren't you?' He lowered his chin slightly. 'Catch this from me, Karkaroff!'

How did I get involved in this? Katya asked herself with a blank face.

'Hand it over, Malfoy.'

Katya watched as Harry Potter came into the scene, glaring at Draco behind his round glasses.

'Heh, you think I'll listen to you?' Draco said. He began to levitate into the air on his broomstick. 'Only Karkaroff is worthy of my giving anything to anyone.'

'What the hell …' Katya muttered to herself, her cheeks beginning to grow pink.

'I sort of feel as if I stole his time away from you,' Andreas said. He then laughed. 'I think Malfoy likes you, Katyosha!'

Katya's pink cheeks became a colour closer to red. 'Huh? What?'

'Do you want to be the hero, Potter?' Draco directed to Harry mockingly, now very high into the air on his broom. 'Come and try to take it from me!'

Various chatter erupted from the students. Only after a couple seconds did Katya see Harry Potter jolt into the air on his broom. He yelled some words to Draco, which Katya couldn't quite grasp to understand.

Andreas nudged her in the side with a smirk. 'They're already up there so what do you think?' He mounted his broomstick. 'First one to the Quidditch goals gets the loser's dessert for one week.'

Katya smirked. 'Of course. I'll win, just to betray my uncle's Health-Fit Diet even more,' she said, referring to the meal plan Igor concocted for himself years ago when he played professional Quidditch and insisted – or somewhat forced – that his niece abide by the same regulations in order to successfully become and remain 'healthy and strong'.

The mentioning of the Health-Fit Diet, which since Igor's obtaining the position of Headmaster of Durmstrang became a staple in the food served for both the Academy and the Preperatory School, caused Andreas to release a verbal shudder. 'I told you that I came here just because I was sick of bowing to Master Karkaroff, right?'

Katya laughed. 'This year is only his third year as Headmaster and I'm sure you can imagine living with him.'

'Ready steady go!'

Andreas' conversation had relaxed Katya a bit too much, causing her take-off on her broomstick to be half of a second later than Andreas'. She yelled, 'You cheater!', laughing as she flew after him, holding her body close to her broomstick for better speed.

The two of them jetted through the air so quickly that it was as if they appeared out of nowhere. They sped near where Harry and Draco sat floating and arguing in the air, Andreas nearly knocking Draco off of his broomstick in the process, which elicited cheers from Gryffindor students. Luckily for Andreas, he was so focused on flying and flying fast that he did not notice the cheers, as he would have felt a massive guilt of pleasing the members of the House he felt tortured to be in, especially if he received those cheers based on a feat that could have harmed, or at the very least made a fool out of, a Slytherin, a member of the House he longed to be in. However, he didn't notice anything and instead tied with Katya to reach the three high-standing hoops which served as the Quiddtich goals.

'I won!'

'No, I won!'

'I definitely won, Katya.'

'Pfft – no way!'

'Time for you to hand over your desserts!'

'Never!'

The two burst into laughter, in a friendly manner continuing their argument about who won the race. Suddenly, the red ball that belonged to Neville came flying their way. Andreas casually caught it and immediately after saw Harry speeding towards them, possibly so without control that he might not be able to stop. Andreas and Katya both screamed and flew out of the way of Potter's path. As Andreas moved, he threw the red ball over his shoulder, sending it in the direction of the Hogwarts Castle. Right away, Harry turned to steering his broom in the direction Andreas threw the red ball. Katya and Andreas looked at each other and with a mutual nod decided to land.

'What was that thing you threw?' Katya asked.

'I don't know, it just came hurling towards me.'

'Potter sure wants it.'

'Seems so.'

Suddenly Draco appeared and stuck himself between them. He stood facing Andreas, glaring and sneering at him with a red blush coating his pale, slightly pudgy cheeks. 'You, a Gryffindor, have no right to have done what you did!'

'What the hell are you talking about?' Andreas asked, almost as if he was interrogating Draco.

'You almost knocked me off my broom, you moron!'

'I did?'

Katya sighed. 'Calm down, Draco. Neither of us paid attention to our surroundings, we just wanted to race.'

Draco looked behind him at Katya, his eyes softening but his sneer remaining the same. 'Well, at least you didn't give that Remembrall back to Potter,' he spat at Andreas.

Andreas eyed Draco as if he was irritated, which he was. 'Believe me, I don't want to help him or anyone from this damn House.'

Draco raised an eyebrow. 'Is that so? Who are you?'

'Andreas Ionescu. I'm from Sibiu, Romania. I attended Durmstrang Preparatory and was Quidditch captain of the Youth Team with Katya.' He nodded his head towards Katya. 'My friend.'

'Romania and Durmstrang Preparatory?' Draco asked. 'Then why have you got the misfortune of being in Gryffindor?'

Andreas scowled a bit. 'I have no idea but I hate that House and I might be leaving this school because of it.'

'Hm, well I don't blame you there,' Draco said with his nose slightly tilted into the air.

'So Draco,' Katya said, putting a hand on his shoulder. She smiled when he turned around to face her. 'Did you see who won?'

'Won?' Draco asked, his voice much softer and gentler when speaking directly to Katya.

Katya nodded. 'The race. Who won?'

'Clearly you did,' Draco said with a smile.

'Hey hey hey Karkaroff! You can't ask your friend who won, they have a biased answer!'

Katya smirked. 'Oh? But he was right there, weren't you Draco.'

Draco nodded proudly. 'Yes, I saw, after you nearly killed me Ionescu.'

Their conversation couldn't continue any further, as an incredibly loud eruption of cheers and applause emerged from the myriad of Gryffindor students. Katya, Draco and Andreas all turned their heads in the direction of the noise to see Harry Potter land onto the ground, triumphantly holding Neville's Remembrall in his hand. The three of them looked at each other, all of them to one degree or another rolling their eyes. Andreas silently mocked the cheering of the other students, bringing about snickers and laughter from Katya and Draco.

'It's not so funny. I have to hear this all the time,' Andreas said.

'Mr. Potter!' came the voice of Professor McGonagall. Every student, including the Slytherin students who had formed a group amongst themselves and the trio of Katya, Draco and Andreas turned to see the stern Professor approaching them from the direction of the Castle. 'Come with me,' she added, using her hand as a gesture for him to come.

They watched as Harry began to walk over to her, appearing as if he was defeated and sulking, anticipating whatever punishment he would receive for apparently being the one who got caught disobeying Madame Hooch's order. Katya, Draco and Andreas looked at each other, smirking and nodding, feeling that some type of justice was served.

'I'll have to hear about this all evening too,' Andreas said with a sigh. 'But at least I got to see this.' He nodded. 'Yes, this was nice to see.'


	7. Chapter 7

'Look who's coming, it's Kaka-kopf and Turn-up nose,' came the sneering voice of Seamus Finnigan.

'Turnip-nose, mate,' Ron said with a jab of his elbow into Finnegan's side. 'Turnips. They grow in dirt. That means he's got a dirty nose!'

Seamus chuckled. 'I told you what Kaka meant in Russian, didn't I?'

Ron laughed. 'That's all she's full of, the nasty little bugger.'

'Why do you persist on attacking them?' piped up the voice of Hermione Granger, a girl with wavy and somewhat frizzy light brown hair. 'Is this all because Karkaroff made the Slytherin Quidditch Team?'

'No! It's because she's a git and friends with Malfoy! Who asked you!' Ron answered with a snap in his voice.

Harry sighed. 'We lost to Slytherin yesterday.'

'That's because of that nasty little bugger and that boy with the big teeth! You know, the one who looks like he has troll blood!' Ron exclaimed. 'They cheat! I know they do! And Ionescu. He's to blame too. I bet he doesn't even try, since he hates Gryffindor so much. Why did he even try out for the House Team? How did he make the House Team?'

'Because he went to Durmstrang Prep,' Hermione said, rolling her eyes. 'They're obsessed with Quidditch there.'

'No one asked you!' Ron snipped.

'E-e-excuse me, please … s-silence,' came the nervously stuttering voice of Professor Quirrell, who stood in front of the class dressed in his usual dark purple robes and dull lavender-coloured turban. 'L-let us b-begin the c-class.'

'No one asked you, Hermione,' Ron muttered as the room grew silent.

At another table, quite far from Ron, Seamus, Harry and Hermione, sat Katya and Draco. Katya sighed, hating this class, finding it so incredibly boring and useless. It was much more trying on her nerves than it was for the other students, because such techniques related to Dark Arts and Defense Against the Dark Arts came as a second nature to her, thanks to the private training she received from her family. Besides that, she couldn't understand how the themes Professor Quirrell touched upon even fell under the category of Defense Against the Dark Arts. How to duel? Flexibility training? Defense against certain Magical Creatures? Please. Katya already learnt about Werewolves and Vampires at Durmstrang Prep. There, Dueling was considered a Martial Art, not anything in connection to Dark Magic. On top of that, she had already begun to be taught by Igor at home how to theoretically form a barrier to block Killing and Mind-Control Curses.

'I don't need this at 8 in the morning …' Katya mumbled as the stuttering Professor Quirrell began to speak about Possessed Animals.

'Tired?' Draco asked quietly.

'Quidditch was rough yesterday.'

Draco nodded. 'Your own personal duel with Ionescu,' he said, referring to the amount of times the two Chasers had slammed each other in attempt to steal the Quaffle from each other. 'Well, why don't you sleep? He surely won't notice.'

Katya smiled. 'Good idea. I'll try.' She lay her arm on the table to use as a cushion for her head and began to relax.

Where was she? She wasn't sure. She stood somewhere outside, surrounded by darkness. There was not even a moon in the sky to shine any light. Katya could hardly distinguish the greenish tinge in the grass below her feet from the black and grey shades surrounding her. Unafraid but cautious, she began to slowly move her feet forward, one after another. After taking about ten steps, a full moon suddenly began to appear in the sky, black wisps of cloud pulling themselves out of the way of it like curtains opening up a stage. The moonlight shone onto Katya, as if the moon itself desired to illuminate around her like a spotlight.

A couple steps away from her stood the back of what appeared to be a grey tombstone, which had weeds and other wild grasses wildly growing at the base of it. Curiously, Katya went to the other side of the tombstone, to see that the side where the name of the deceased person was completely overgrown with grass. She lightly touched the grasses with her finger to perform a spell to disintegrate them.

Her eyes opened wide at the names she saw:

Nazariy Karkaroff 1924-1975

Valeria Sagorska 1932-1975

My grandparents? Katya thought.

'I hope you're not disturbed,' a male voice from behind her said.

Katya turned around to see a tall, slender brunette teenager. He had a small smile on his lips and grey eyes that seemed to gaze into a void of nothingness. His hair was coiffed into a style Katya found to be old-fashioned. On the right side of his head his hair was clearly parted, combed to each side without any loose or unruly hairs. Some wavy bangs covered the left side of his forehead, holding a shape reminiscent of the chiselled hair on Greek or Roman statues. He was definitely handsome, but something about his aura felt odd to Katya, odd in such a way that she didn't know what she was sensing from him.

'I'm not,' she answered his comment.

The young man looked toward the gravestone. 'They weren't very nice people.'

'I know that,' Katya said, remembering what she had been told about her grandparents, especially by Igor who had faced physical abuse from them as a child. 'But how do you?' she posed her question quite deliberately.

The young man's smile turned into a smirk. 'I'm an observer,' he answered. 'Near graveyards in Crimea one can hear a lot of old tales about the dead, if one is patient and pays attention.'

'If you understand the stories, then why aren't you speaking to me in Russian or Ukrainian? Surely we don't have to speak English.'

The young man put a soft hand on Katya's shoulder. 'You are a smart girl.'

Katya peeled his hand off of her shoulder, which caused the young man's lips to straighten. 'Tell me how you hear your stories.'

The young man smiled again. 'With pleasure.' He extended his arm and pointed it toward the ground, then began to make some sort of hissing sounds come from his mouth, hissing sounds that were indistinguishable to Katya. Shortly after came a dark, green long snake from underneath the ground. It attached itself to the young man's arm and began to coil itself up his arm. He turned back to Katya, still smiling. 'Would you like to say hello?'

Katya eyed him oddly. 'We have bats, and in the past, dragons, but no snakes.'

He chuckled. 'Dragons and snakes are both reptiles. They're family members, one could say.' He extended his arm which held the snake in Katya's direction, to see her take a step back. 'Afraid?' he asked with a confused expression. When Katya shook her head, he added, 'You shouldn't be. You speak Parsel.'

'If I do, I don't know it,' Katya said, her lips straight and hard. There was a beat of silence. She scanned the body of the peculiar brunette teenager to see that he was wearing what appeared to be an older model of the Slytherin uniform from Hogwarts. 'Head Boy, or?' she asked, her lips beginning to twist into a smirk.

'One could say that,' he answered, stroking the part of the snake coiled around his upper arm. 'You don't like Head Boys?' His voice held a light sarcasm combined with a teasing playfulness.

'Nyet,' she replied, her smirking attitude showing itself through both her lips and her eyes.

The young man laughed. 'Then perhaps I should leave you now, before you say nyet to me once more.'

Katya snickered. 'Your friend there will want more attention from you.'

He nodded his head to here. 'Then we bid farewell, Katarina.'

'Wake up, everyone's leaving!' Draco exclaimed quietly, jabbing his elbow into her hip.

'Kurva Scheiss!' Immediately after receiving her painful awakening, she shoved Draco. 'That hurt!'

Draco erupted into a boyish laughter and got up from his seat. 'You were completely out, Katya. I had no choice.'

She sneered at him playfully. 'Ty Mudak.'

'And I know what that means now!' Draco said with a big smile as he slid his books into his bag. 'Race you to Snape's class!'

He began to take off, leaving Katya in her seat without even having gotten up. Luckily for her, she hadn't even taken her books out of her bag, so she just grabbed it as she jolted up from her seat, almost knocking her chair over as she did.

'You cheat! Draco! You cheat!' she called after him as she ran as fast as she could after him, the dream she experienced already erased from her memory.

A.N. - To understand better, these are the English definitions of some words I've used:

Nyet – No (Russian)

Kurva – 'Fuck', 'Shit' (Used in general Eastern Europe)

Scheiss – 'Shit' (German)

Kaka – 'Poop' (Russian, also Polish)

Mudak – 'Arsehole' (Russian)


End file.
